In general, the present invention relates to an information-processing apparatus, a server and an information communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to processing to download application software.
Information-processing apparatuses such as a personal computer and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) have been becoming popular and are used in various kinds of processing.
In addition, application software used in an information-processing apparatus is presented to the user by using media such as a disc or a memory card or downloaded to the apparatus through a communication line.
By the way, in the case of a portable and compact information-processing apparatus such as a PDA, the size of a memory source thereof is unavoidably limited. Thus, when an application program is installed in an internal storage unit, the storage area becomes full in many cases.
When the user wants to further add a new application program in such a circumstance, the user needs to delete or save an already installed program or an already installed data file in another storage medium in order to secure a storage area in the internal storage unit. The already installed application program or data file to be saved may be a program no longer needed or not used frequently. Then, it is necessary to carry out an operation to add the new application program to the existing software by installing the program in the secured storage area.
However, stress is much developed in the user by the fact that it is difficult as well as cumbersome to carry out the work to form of a judgment as to whether or not an already installed application program or data file is still required, the fact that it takes labor to carry out the work of deleting an existing application program or data file no longer required or used infrequently and the fact that the work to set a location for saving an application program or a data file and to set a connection to the location is troublesome. It takes also much time to carry out these works. The user's stress and the much time caused by these works are a problem.
In addition, due to such much consumed time and labor, the user gives up services rendered by typically a provider using servers even if the provider is capable of providing the user with application programs desired by the user.